KUCHING: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and SV News Sdn Bhd have entered into a collaboration with the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) conducted via Zoom today.
The MoU was signed by Unimas vice-chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi on behalf of Unimas while SV News Sdn Bhd was represented by its chief executive officer, Dr Jeniri Amir.
The strategic partnership between Unimas and SV News Sdn Bhd will benefit both parties through various activities that will involve students and academicians.
Among the objectives of the MoU are to provide exposure to students on how media organisations operate through knowledge sharing sessions with media practitioners, media literacy programmes, and students’ placement for internship.
Mohamad Kadim said the ceremony was indeed meaningful for Unimas, especially its Faculty of Language and Communication as it would open up more room for collaborations between the university and SV News Sdn Bhd, which operated two newspapers — New Sarawak Tribune and Suara Sarawak.
“Our intention is to work more closely with industry players. SV News Sdn Bhd fits the bill very well indeed,” he said, adding that the university prioritised industry training for its students.
He said that industry players played an important role in producing quality graduates who could fulfil the demands of the industry.
“We are in this together in ensuring that our students are given the most suitable training and education. The input and cooperation from industry players are very important and significant to ensure that our students gain knowledge which is relevant to the industry needs,” he said.
“At Unimas, we place emphasis on graduate employability. We always ensure that our curriculum meets the needs of the industry,” he added.
Mohamad Kadim said the role of industry players was relevant in higher education as their feedback was valuable, especially when developing new programmes or improving course content during the curriculum review process.
“Perhaps we can also look into the involvement of SV News Sdn Bhd in the Board of Studies in the Faculty of Language and Communication and maybe even in other faculties such as the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities as well,” he suggested.
Mohamad Kadim also said that Unimas prioritised nurturing graduates to meet the needs of Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0.
“We embed this into our curriculum and make sure that our students follow this development, especially on the aspect of IR 4.0,” he said.
Also present were SV News Sdn Bhd chief operating officer, Sardon Zainal and other representatives from both organisations.
